In Canada, there are four specific offences recognized in the Criminal Code as hate crimes: advocating genocide, public incitement of hatred, wilful promotion of hatred, and mischief in relation to religious property. In addition, other criminal offences (e.g. assault, mischief) may be classified as a hate crime should the incident be motivated by hatred towards a particular group based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or any other similar factor. Examples may include vandalism of religious property, homophobic violence, and offences committed by rival ethnic or religious groups. For these types of offences, sentencing provisions allow for increased penalties beyond the usual range.Note 1

The importance of monitoring the nature and extent of hate crime has been recognized by many countries around the world. Of the 56 member states of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE),Note 2 50 reported collecting hate crime statistics in 2010 (OSCE 2011). In Canada, police-reported hate crime data have been systematically collected by the Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR2) Survey since 2006.Note 3 Data from the UCR2 Survey reflect hate crimes that have come to the attention of police and have been substantiated through investigation.

This Juristat article presents data from the 2010 UCR2 Survey, the most up-to-date information available on the extent and nature of police-reported hate crime in Canada.Note 4, Note 5 It examines overall trends in the volume of hate crime for both violent and non-violent offences at the national, provincial and census metropolitan area levels. This article explores motivations for hate crimes, the characteristics of victims and accused persons and the consequences of such offences. In addition, information pertaining to hate crimes heard in Canada's criminal courts is presented.

It is important to note that police-reported data likely undercount the true extent of hate crime in Canada, as not all incidents come to the attention of police. Self-reported information from the 2009 General Social Survey (GSS) on VictimizationNote 6 suggests that about one-third (34%) of incidents perceived by victims to have been motivated by hate were subsequently reported to police (Dauvergne and Brennan 2011).

After two consecutive years of increase, the number and rate of police-reported hate crimes decreased in 2010 (Table 1). Overall, Canadian police services reported 1,401 hate crimes in 2010, or a rate of 4.1 hate crimes per 100,000 population, representing an 18% decrease in the rate from the year before (Table 1, Chart 1). Although the rate declined in 2010, it remained higher than the rates reported from 2006 to 2008.

Note: Information reflects data reported by police services covering approximately 87% of the population of Canada from 2006 to 2009 and 99% in 2010.Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.

Police-reported hate crimes may be either "suspected" or "confirmed". Incidents are suspected to be hate crimes when there are enough hate elements present for the offence to be investigated as a hate crime. An incident is confirmed to be a hate crime when, through the course of investigation, police determine that hate was the primary motive for the offence. Of the 1,401 hate crimes reported in 2010, about three-quarters (76%) were confirmed to be hate-motivated, while the remaining one-quarter (24%) were suspected.

Overall, non-violent offences continued to account for the majority of police-reported hate crimes in 2010, at two-thirds (66%) of all incidents. Most of the decrease in the overall rate of hate crimes was due to a reduction in the rate of violent hate crimes. The rate of non-violent hate crimes remained relatively stable.Note 7

As in previous years, the most common type of hate crime was mischief (e.g. graffiti and vandalism), accounting for 56% of all incidents (Chart 2). Minor assaults (11% of all hate crime incidents), in which little to no physical harm was caused to victims, and uttering threats (9%) were the most common types of violent crime. While there was one hate-motivated attempted homicide in 2010, there were no hate-motivated homicides.

1. Includes, for example, assaults not otherwise specified, intimidation, and forcible confinement.
2. Includes, for example, fraud and threats against property or animals.
3. Includes, for example, defamatory libel.Note: Information reflects data reported by police services covering 78% of the population of Canada. Counts are based upon the most serious offence in the incident. One incident may involve multiple violations.Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.

For the first time, it is possible to examine the rate of police-reported hate crime for all provinces and territories. Among the provinces, the highest rate of hate crime was reported in Ontario, with 5.7 incidents per 100,000 population, followed by Manitoba (4.6), and British Columbia (4.0) (Chart 3). While rates in Yukon and Northwest Territories were above those in the provinces, the number of hate crimes in these territories was relatively low (Table 2). There were no hate crimes reported in Nunavut in 2010.

The decrease in hate crimes reported by Canadian police services in 2010 was primarily driven by fewer incidents in three of Canada's largest census metropolitan areas (CMAs),Note 8 namely Toronto (-48 incidents), Vancouver (-46), and Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo (-38). However, some of Canada's CMAs showed an increase in the number of incidents from the previous year, including Winnipeg (+27),Note 9 Montréal (+17) and Hamilton (+11).

Although Winnipeg and Montréal reported the largest increases in the number of incidents in 2010, the highest rates of hate crime were found in Ontario CMAs. Despite reporting a decline from the previous year, Guelph had the highest rate of police-reported hate crime with just over 15 incidents per 100,000 population, all of which were non-violent in nature (Table 3, Chart 4). This was followed closely by Ottawa (14 per 100,000) and Peterborough (12 per 100,000). There were no hate crimes reported in Thunder Bay, Saint John, Greater Sudbury or Saguenay in 2010.

Note: A census metropolitan area (CMA) consists of one or more neighbouring municipalities situated around a central core. A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000 of which 50,000 or more live in the core. To be included in the CMA, other adjacent municipalities must have a high degree of integration with the central core, as measured by commuting flows derived from census data. A CMA typically comprises more than one police service. Populations have been adjusted to follow policing boundaries. The Oshawa CMA is excluded from this chart due to the incongruity between the police service jurisdictional boundaries and the CMA boundaries. In 2010, coverage for each CMA was virtually 100%, with the exception of Saskatoon (99%), Brantford (95%), Windsor (92%), Toronto (91%), Hamilton (74%), and Barrie (70%).
1. Ottawa refers to the Ontario part of the Ottawa–Gatineau CMA.
2. Gatineau refers to the Quebec part of the Ottawa–Gatineau CMA.Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.

Information from police services suggests that differences in the prevalence of police-reported hate crime can be influenced by a variety of factors. For example, the presence (or absence) of a dedicated hate crime unit or training program within a particular police service may influence the resources available for the investigation of a hate crime. Similarly, the presence (or absence) of community support programs, public awareness campaigns, zero tolerance policies, and victim assistance programs may impact the willingness or ability of community members to report incidents to police. Therefore, it is important to recognize that, according to police services, higher rates of police-reported hate crime in certain jurisdictions may reflect differences in the recognition, reporting, and investigation of these incidents by police and community members and not necessarily higher rates of occurrence.

Consistent with previous years, there were three primary motivations for hate crime in 2010: race or ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation (Table 4, Chart 5). As has been the case since 2006, hate crimes motivated by race or ethnicity were the most common at just over one-half (52%) of all incidents. Racially motivated hate crimes are also the most common type of hate crime in several other countries, such as the United States (FBI 2011), Scotland, Finland, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (OSCE 2011).

Religiously motivated hate crimes in Canada accounted for another 29% of all hate crimes and sexual orientation for 16%. Other motivations, such as mental or physical disability, language, sex, and other similar factors (e.g. occupation or political beliefs) were identified as the primary motive in 4% of hate crimes.

1. Includes mental or physical disability, language, sex and other similar factors (e.g. occupation or political beliefs).Note: Information reflects data reported by police services covering 87% of the population of Canada in 2009 and 99% in 2010. Percentages have been calculated excluding unknown motivations.Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.

There was some variation in the most common motivations for hate crime among Canada's 10 largest CMAs. For example, Calgary reported the highest proportion of racially motivated hate crimes, at nearly three-quarters (72%) of all incidents (Table 5). Winnipeg reported the highest proportion of religiously motivated hate crimes (55%), while Vancouver reported the highest proportion of hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation (26%). These findings were similar to the proportions reported for these three CMAs in 2009 (Dauvergne and Brennan 2011).

As in previous years, Blacks were the most commonly targeted racial group in 2010, with 271 incidents. Although this racial group represented approximately 2.5% of the Canadian population (Statistics Canada 2008b),Note 10 hate crimes committed against Blacks accounted for approximately 20% of the total number of hate crimes and 39% of those motivated by race or ethnicity (Chart 6).

Another 75 hate crimes (11% of racially motivated hate crimes) were committed against Arabs and West Asians and 67 incidents (10%) against South Asians. Similar proportions of hate crimes were committed against East and Southeast Asians (including Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese groups) and Caucasians, at 6% and 5%, respectively. Hate crimes against Aboriginals accounted for 3% of incidents. There were 107 hate crimes (16%) against multiple races or ethnicities while the remaining 11% of such crimes were against other (unspecified) racial groups.

1. Includes hate crimes that target more than one race or ethnic group.
2. Includes motivations based upon race or ethnicity not otherwise stated (e.g. Latin American, South American).Note: Information reflects data reported by police services covering 87% of the population of Canada in 2009 and 99% in 2010. Percentages have been calculated excluding unknown motivations. Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.

In 2010, the most common type of religiously motivated hate crime targeted the Jewish faith, a finding that is consistent with previous years. With 204 incidents in 2010, hate crimes against the Jewish faith represented nearly 6 in 10 (55%) religiously motivated incidents (Chart 7). Although hate crimes against the Jewish faith accounted for the largest number of religiously motivated hate crimes in 2010, the proportion of hate crimes against this religious group was at its lowest point since data collection began in 2006.

Other religiously motivated hate crimes were committed against the Muslim faith (Islam) with 52 incidents (14%), and the Catholic faith with 50 incidents (14%). The remaining 17% of hate crimes were committed against other religions (such as Sikh, Hindu and Buddhist).

1. Includes motivations based upon religions not otherwise stated (e.g. Sikh, Hindu, and Buddhist).Note: Information reflects data reported by police services covering 87% of the population of Canada in 2009 and 99% in 2010. Percentages have been calculated excluding unknown motivations.Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.

Hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation often result in physical injury

Findings from previous years indicate that hate crimes targeting sexual orientation, specifically homosexuality, are more likely than other types of hate crime to be violent. This trend was also seen in 2010, as almost two-thirds (65%) of hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation were violent. In comparison, 34% of racially motivated hate crimes and 17% of religiously motivated hate crimes were violent.

Hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation were also more likely than other types to result in physical injury to victims. More specifically, injuries were reported in 59% of violent incidents motivated by sexual orientation, compared to 40% of racially motivated violent incidents and 14% of religiously motivated violent incidents. For all three motivations, the majority of injuries (about 9 in 10) sustained in violent incidents were relatively minor in nature, possibly requiring some first-aid.

In 2010, police-reported hate crime rates were highest among youth and young adults. Among accused persons, rates of hate crime were highest for those aged 12 to 17 (Chart 8), with rates peaking among those aged 16 years. Victims of hate crime were slightly older, as rates of hate crime peaked among victims aged 18 to 24, with the highest rates reported for those 22 years of age.

Compared to crime in general, males were more likely to be involved in hate crimes, both as victims and accused persons. In 2010, three-quarters (75%) of hate crime victims were male compared to about one-half (48%) for crime in general. While the disparity was smaller for accused persons, the proportion of male accused remained higher among incidents that had been motivated by hate (88% versus 77% for overall crime).

In general, most violent crimes (73%) are committed by someone known to the victim rather than a stranger. Among hate crimes, however, the opposite tends to hold true. In 2010, nearly 6 in 10 (57%) violent hate crimes that were solved by police were perpetrated by a stranger. Friends and acquaintances accounted for another 39% of incidents while the remaining 4% were committed by family members.

These proportions were consistent across the three most common motivations for hate crimes, as the majority of hate crimes motivated by race or ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation were committed by strangers.

In general, the effects of criminal victimization vary, and may range from emotional and physical consequences, to those that are financial in nature (Perreault and Brennan 2010). Previous studies have shown that the effects experienced by victims of hate crime tend to be more severe than those experienced by victims of non-hate crime (Dauvergne, Scrim, and Brennan 2008).

The General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization can be used to measure the impacts and consequences of victimization on Canadians aged 15 years or older who are living in the 10 provinces. According to the results of the 2009 GSS (the most recent information available), victims who perceived the incident to be motivated by hate were more likely than those who did not to state that an incident had affected them emotionally (91% versus 81%). The most common emotional reactions to perceived hate crimes were anger (38%), feeling upset, confused or frustrated (25%), and fear (20%E Note 11). Victims of non-violent hate crimes were as likely to be affected by emotional consequences as those who were victims of violent hate crimes.

The emotional consequences of hate crime can also affect other members of the victim's community, who may experience post-traumatic stress from hate crimes that target a member of their group (Lawrence and Fashola 2009).

As mentioned earlier, in Canada there are four specific offences recognized in the Criminal Code as hate crime: advocating genocide, public incitement of hatred, wilful promotion of hatred and mischief in relation to religious property. Sentencing provisions allow for increased penalties when hate is determined to be an aggravating factor in any criminal offence (e.g. assault, mischief).Note 12 However, there are no data currently available from the Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) on the use of these sentencing provisions. Therefore, examinations of court-related data are limited to court cases that involve charges for the four specific hate crime offences, on all cases that have been completed in youth courts and adult criminal courts in Canada.Note 13

Information from the ICCS indicates that relatively few cases completed in Canadian courts in 2009/2010 (the most recent data available) involved hate crime offences. Specifically, there were 14 cases in adult courts that involved at least one hate crime charge: 10 cases involved wilful promotion and public incitement of hatred, 3 cases involved mischief to religious property and 1 case involved advocating genocide. Hate crime charges accounted for the most serious charge in 2 of these 14 cases, both of which resulted in the accused person being found guilty and subsequently sentenced to probation.

In 2009/2010, youth courts completed 5 cases that involved at least one hate crime charge, 4 of which were for mischief to religious property and 1 of which involved a charge of wilful promotion of hatred. In all 5 cases, the hate crime charges were not determined to be the most serious offence.

Canadian police services reported 1,401 hate crimes in 2010. Following two consecutive years of increase, the rate of police-reported hate crime fell 18% to 4.1 hate crimes per 100,000 population in 2010. Most of the drop was due to a decrease in the rate of violent hate crimes. Three of Canada's largest metropolitan areas accounted for most of the decline: Toronto (-48), Vancouver (-46) and Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo (-38). Mischief was the most common type of police-reported hate crime in 2010, accounting for nearly 6 in 10 incidents. Consistent with findings from past years, three motivations accounted for most hate crime: race or ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. The highest rates of hate crime were among youth and young adults as both victims and accused persons.

Uniform Crime Reporting Survey
The Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR2) Survey is a microdata survey that captures detailed information on crimes reported to and substantiated by police, including the characteristics of victims, accused persons and incidents. In response to changing information needs, the survey was modified in 2005 (UCR2.2) to enable the identification of incidents motivated by hate based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or any other similar factor (such as occupation or political beliefs). In 2010, police services reporting to the UCR2.2 Survey covered 78% of the population of Canada, up from 51% in 2009.

A supplemental survey has been conducted each year since 2006 as a means of obtaining information on hate-motivated crimes from those police services reporting microdata but who had not yet converted their electronic reporting systems to the newest UCR2.2 version. These respondents were asked to identify those criminal incidents that had been motivated by hate and to manually provide the detailed motivation of each incident to Statistics Canada. Additional information (e.g. type of crime, weapon use, level of injury and relationship) was not provided by these respondents.

Combined, coverage from the UCR2.2 Survey and the supplemental survey in 2010 is estimated at 99% of the population of Canada, up from 87% in 2009.

General Social Survey
Information on self-reported victimization is collected by the General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization every five years. This survey asks Canadians, aged 15 years and older, residing in the 10 provinces and excluding full-time residents of institutions, if they had been a victim in the previous 12 months of any of the following offences: sexual assault, robbery, physical assault, break and enter, theft of motor vehicles or parts, theft of household property, theft of personal property and vandalism. If respondents indicated that they had been victimized, they were subsequently asked if they believed that the incidents had been motivated by hate.

Integrated Criminal Court Survey
The Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) is administered by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada in collaboration with provincial and territorial government departments responsible for criminal courts in Canada. The survey collects statistical information on adult and youth court cases involving Criminal Code and other federal statute charges.

Lawrence, Austin and Sidikat Fashola. 2009. A Preliminary Analysis of the Community Impact of Hate-Motivated Crime. National Conference of the Canadian Society of Criminology. Department of Justice Canada, Ottawa.

TheOSCE is an organization of the United Nations whose 56 participating states span Europe, North America and Central Asia (OSCE 2011).

Police-reported data on hate crime were released in 2005 for two police services. Also, a pilot study on hate crime from 12 police services was conducted in 2001 and 2002. For further information on the results from this pilot study, see Silver, Mihorean and Taylor-Butts, 2004.

Unless otherwise stated, the data presented in this report reflect information from police services covering 99% of the population of Canada.

The collection of police-reported hate crime data as well as the production of this analytical report was supported by funding from Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Information on self-reported victimization is collected by the General Social Survey (GSS) on Victimization every five years. This survey asks Canadians, aged 15 years and older, residing in the 10 provinces and excluding full-time residents of institutions, if they had been a victim in the previous 12 months of any of the following offences: sexual assault, robbery, physical assault, break and enter, theft of motor vehicles or parts, theft of household property, theft of personal property and vandalism. If respondents indicated that they had been victimized, they were subsequently asked if they believed that the incidents had been motivated by hate.

Data are based upon information reported by police services covering 78% of the population of Canada in both years.

A census metropolitan area (CMA) consists of one or more neighbouring municipalities situated around a central core. A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000 of which 50,000 or more live in the core. To be included in the CMA, other adjacent municipalities must have a high degree of integration with the central core, as measured by commuting flows derived from census data. A CMA typically comprises more than one police service. Populations have been adjusted to follow policing boundaries.

The increase in police-reported hate crime in Winnipeg can be partly explained by improvements in police recording practices, as well as increased community awareness through information sessions and meetings with vulnerable populations.